Governor Rick Perry told The Associated Press on Tuesday he needed just one shot from the laser-sighted pistol he sometimes carries while jogging to take down a coyote that menaced his puppy during a February run near Austin.

Details.

Ruger couldn't buy this kind of publicity for their relatively new LCP .380.

He carries a .380? That's a girl's gun. You'd think the Guv. of Texas would carry something that makes a bit more noise than that.

Laser sights
.380

Junior-weight

At least he wasn't carrying a LadySmith.

A .500 S & W would seem a better choice. A real huntin' man's gun!

Bare hands. Snap.

Given the normal behavior of coyotes, so long as it wasn't rabid, then a size 12 New Balance carefully applied would have taken care of the problem.

Also, carrying a .380 with hollow points for *snakes*? Either our Guv doesn't know enough to carry snake shot, or he's talking about the kind of snakes typically found in the Ledge, rather than out jogging in the brush...

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Originally posted by JM:
At least he wasn't carrying a LadySmith.

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I don't own a ladysmith, but if I could find a nice primo Model 65 with a 3" barrel, I wouldn't be ashamed to carry it. It's a great gun with features that you can't get on the regular Model 65.

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Originally posted by Brody V. Burks:
Given the normal behavior of coyotes, so long as it wasn't rabid, then a size 12 New Balance carefully applied would have taken care of the problem.

Also, carrying a .380 with hollow points for *snakes*? Either our Guv doesn't know enough to carry snake shot, or he's talking about the kind of snakes typically found in the Ledge, rather than out jogging in the brush...

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Maybe he's talking about the kind of snakes that might hide out and do joggers or citizens harm. The human kind...

...we'd hang the varmits on the fence after we clipped their ears (the county had a $7.00 bounty and the land owner would usually match it, but you had to bring in the ears). The old-timers said it sent a message the other coyotes. My sheriff once suggested a similar policy regarding burglars.

I have not (yet) met a successful snake hunter who uses a pistol - unless it is loaded with rat shot. A bullet tends to slip between the coils of the snake, doing minimal damage and making it madder than it was.

My favorite...a shot gun!! ideally double barrelled....

Lisa L. Peterson
Nolan County Attorney

As the anti-gun and pro-animal people come out of the woodwork to issue statements critical of our Governor, I have to say I'm on the Gub's side. He certainly has the right to defend himself or a family pet against a wild predator, be it a snake or coyote.

I'm amazed that several folks quoted in the Houston Chron article said they had family dogs taken by coyotes in the past and that they would not have shot the predators, even if they had a gun when it occurred. That's sort of ironic to me, since many dogs would gladly give their lives to protect their owners, without a second thought.

Perry's critics part one

The Chronicle ran this highly critical article of Perry's defense of his animal here:

Governor Lawbreaker? Perry's coyote killing might be illegal

As for kicking the coyote with a shoe, to me, that's somewhat akin to the notion that you can drive away a shark from attacking you by punching it on the nose with your hand, or that you can keep an alligator from biting you by holding it's mouth closed with your hands. All of these methods require getting much closer to the predator to drive them off than a pistola. Absent a pistol, yes, I'd kick a coyote to make it go away, but I'm afraid I'm one of those who would shoot an animal predator before getting close enough to kick it if it was attacking me or my dog.

And although some have noted above that the .380 caliber is lightweight compared to other calibers, in discussing this with my friends yesterday, the uniform question they had was wondering where Perry was finding .380 ammo in these tight ammo availability times.

As a runner and a CHL holder, I can truly say I have never carried my gun on a run. However, if I was the Governor, I probably would. Anyway, if I were to carry a gun on a run, it would have to be light, like a .380 rather than my 0.45 ACP. Hey, maybe that could be a market niche...a runner's gun! Just sayin'.

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Originally posted by GG:
I'm amazed that several folks quoted in the Houston Chron article said they had family dogs taken by coyotes in the past and that they would not have shot the predators, even if they had a gun when it occurred. That's sort of ironic to me, since many dogs would gladly give their lives to protect their owners, without a second thought.

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That's awful. Anything that goes after my dog would count itself lucky to just be shot!

My mom wasn't a very good shot, so when she walked my brother and me home from school in a rural area where snakes were abundant, she carried a golf club. She never had to actually fend a snake off that I recall, but she did once have to get the gun out when a rabid skunk came into the yard and started attacking our dogs. Still took her a good 10 shots to kill it.

I never carry my gun when I'm running either.
That's part of running - to run. Away. Away back to the car and get the Smith model 39 with sub-sonic, hydra shoks and extra clip. No laser sights, just practice.

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Originally posted by AndreaW:

That's awful. Anything that goes after _my_ dog would count itself lucky to _just_ be shot!

My mom wasn't a very good shot...Still took her a good 10 shots to kill it.

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Your mom could probably do with a trip to Red's Gun Range with the Governor for some shooting lessons. And a laser sight.

And your response, Ms. Andrea, shows once again why you should be the #1 pick for SCOTUS. Dog lover. Appellate genius. Prosecutor. And a person who knows that "gun control" means hitting your target.

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Originally posted by A.P. Merillat:
I never carry my gun when I'm running either.
That's part of running - to run. Away. Away back to the car and get the Smith model 39 with sub-sonic, hydra shoks and extra clip. No laser sights, just practice.

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Now my dear friend, you're critical of our Governor and his choice of calibers, when, in fact, his .380 is just a wee version of your 9mm. The .380 is known in the old country as 9mm Kurz, and is in reality a 9mm short. The Model 39, of course, is a fine weapon and one that has been time tested in law enforcement since the mid-1970's. I'd like to have one. One of my other favorite people and a fellow LE officer carries his model 39 to this day as well.

I do think our Governor should carry a weapon. There are lots of nuts out there (remember the Governor's Mansion being set afire?) and I'm sure he gets plenty of threats.

When I mentioned to one co-worker that the article about the shoot basically implied to every nut out there that the Guv jogs without his security detail, one good friend and CHL holder mentioned that perhaps they should note his good aim if deciding to bother him. True that.

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I don't own a ladysmith, but if I could find a nice primo Model 65 with a 3" barrel, I wouldn't be ashamed to carry it. It's a great gun with features that you can't get on the regular Model 65.

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I don't have anything against the gun, it's the abusive headlines that would cause me concern.

The Taurus Judge .45/410 combo might be a handy "snake" gun. You could take care of the wriggly varieties and the mugger types. But I understand the snakes better be at close range.